Newton Independent

Local Gingrich campaign chair named; stop in Newton by former Speaker likely

Newton Independent

Newton resident Marshall Critchfield has been tapped as the Jasper County chairman of the Newt Gringrich campaign, information he said was provided to the local newspaper three weeks ago but never printed.

Critchfield said that anyone interested in having a Gingrich yard sign or bumper sticker to contact him as soon as possible. He can be reached on his cell phone at 515-508-1750, at home at 641-792-4439 or via email at marshallcritchfield@gmail.com

The local Gingrich chair also noted that the campaign is looking for individuals interested in speaking at Tuesday's caucuses on behalf of the former House Speaker.

Critchfield said preliminary plans call for Gingrich to be in Newton on Tuesday afternoon to make a final pitch for supporters in advance of the 7 p.m. caucuses. The Newton Independent will publish details as they become available.

Burglaries reported at two Newton churches

Newton Independent

Newton police are continuing to investigate burglary reports at two churches in northeast Newton reported on Dec. 26.

According to information provided by the department today, police were called to a possible burglary at Our Savior Lutheran Church at 1900 N. 4th Ave. E. and on the same date received a report of a burglary at St. Luke United Methodist Church, 501 E. 19th St. N.

Police said four computers, security camera and a projector were discovered missing at St. Luke. Value of the items taken is not know at this time.

Officials said it is uncertain if the burglaries are related. No arrests have been made and the investigation continues.

Trinity among wind tower manufacturers filing trade complaint

Newton Independent

Trinity Industries, the owner of the wind tower manufacturing plant located in a portion of the former Maytag production plant in Newton, is among a group of manufacturers to file petitions seeking stiff tariffs on wind towers coming into the country from overseas.

The Wind Tower Trade Coalition, a group that is comprised of American manufacturers Trinity Towers, DMI, Broadwind and Katana Summit, filed petitions with the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to open an anti-dumping investigation into the practices of Chinese and Vietnamese wind tower producers.

The petitions cover only utility scale wind towers and do not cover other wind components such as blades and nacelles. The cases cover towers whether they are imported partially or fully assembled.

The DOC and ITC are expected to initiate investigations within three weeks of the filing. The ITC's preliminary determination is expected in February with the DOC's preliminary determination expected within six months.

Friday Forecast

Newton Independent

Read about upcoming events in the new year, including the open house for Newton City Administrator Tom Wardlow set for noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday at city hall, in today's edition of the Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce's Friday Forecast.

Van and Bonnie to showcase Skiff's new imaging center during open house next month

Newton Independent

WHO 1040 AM radio personalities Van Harden and Bonnie Lucas will showcase Skiff Medical Center's new Philips Imaging Center during a live remote broadcast from the Newton hospital from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12.

The public is invited to attend the broadcast as Skiff hosts an open house for the community to tour the new imaging center, now one of the best radiology facilities in the Midwest.

The Philips Imaging Center at Skiff features a 128-slice CT scanner that offers the lowest radiation in the area, along with an MRI suite that is the first in the nation to combine new MRI technology recently approved by the FDA with the Ambient Experience, a lighting and video system designed to reduce or eliminate the claustrophobia that some people experience with traditional magnetic resonance imaging.

New offerings that will be coming in 2102 to the imaging center include cardiac scans and stroke scans.

The public is invited to tour the facility during Van and Bonnie's live broadcast, meet the radio personalities and partake in the refreshments that will be provided.

For more information on Skiff's new imaging center, call 641-78-SKIFF (787-5433).

NCVB recaps highlights from the past year

The Newton Convention & Visitors Bureau released its fourth quarter newsletter today that contains a recap of events it's been involved with the past year and some plans for the coming year. You can read the newsletter by opening the link below.

Download 4th Qtr Newsletter

Caucus Iowa Speakers Series event set

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, co-hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" news program, will be the featured guests at a Caucus Iowa Speakers Series set for Sunday at State Historical Building in Des Moines. The two, along with other guests, will speak on next week's presidential caucuses. Members of the audience will also have the opportunity to ask questions. The event, set for 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., is free and open to the public. Doors at the Historical Building, located at 600 E. Locust in Des Moines, will open at 6 p.m. For more information, call 515-281-5111.

Mother of dead Mingo teen warns of abuse of prescription drugs

Newton Independent

KCCI-TV channel 8 tonight aired an interview with the mother of Shasta Sapp, the 19-year-old Mingo teen who died after consuming a drug that has led to an involuntary manslaughter charge being leveled against a Newton teen for supplying the prescription narcotic to the girl.

Wyatt Andrew Franklin, 19, was charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter, a Class D felony; delivery of a controlled substance, a Class C felony, and probation violation in connection with the death of Sapp, 19.

 

PRI reports on Newton's efforts to rebuild

Newton Independent

Public Radio International today posted a report on Newton's efforts at rebuilding itself after it was "knocked down by globalization."

A number of local residents are interviewed in the report, including Darrell Sarmento, executive director of the Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce, and Frank Liebl, executive director of the Newton Development Corporation.

While Newton was hit hard by Maytag's departure, the report notes the efforts undertaken to diversify the local economy.

You can read the full report here.

Reporter's Notebook: Emerson Hough redux?

By PETER HUSSMANN

Is a move afoot to get the Newton School Board to reopen Emerson Hough as a regular elementary school attendance center?

Maybe, according to posting made yesterday on the Help Save Emerson Hough Facebook page.

The community page posting written anonymously notes that information from a "well placed source on the school board" notes that the "opinion of the board" is that "general populace of Newton is happy with the current school structure," one that now features lower and upper elementary grades in the four remaining K-6 schools.

The writer obviously takes some exception to the board's apparent "opinion" and asks its 1,400-some followers if they "want to try to get Emerson Hough reopened."

"The board must be presented with a petition asking for that to happen," the writer states. "I can start one and link it on here and anyone with an email address can sign. Ground support in Newton would be good also."

Whether such an effort will be made is being left to the page followers, many of whom have already commented in support of such an effort.

"I will leave it up to all of you to decide," the posting concludes.

What's interesting now is that with the current make up of the school board, the community-dividing decision made nearly two years ago might just be able to be reversed.

It's no secret that school board newcomer Nat Clark was a backer of efforts to keep the school open. And Donna Cook, who won re-election last fall, voted in favor of keeping Emerson Hough open over Woodrow Wilson. Bill Perrenoud, or Mr. P., as his adopring Emerson Hough students called him for years, would also likely fall under the yes category.

But those three votes would be expected to be offset by the three remaining school board members who voted in support of keeping Woodrow Wilson open - Dennis Combs, Don Poynter and Andy Elbert.

Which leaves us with Jeremy Heaberlin, who abandoned his nearly certain re-election chances for his seat on the Newton City Council to fill an unexpired term on the school board.

Hmmm. I'll keep you updated.

Ron Paul notices the extra attention

TwitPic sent along this photo of the Ron Paul campaign event today at Iowa Speedway. The photographer noted that Congressman Paul noted the nice crowd and joked that there are a lot more cameras following his campaign now that his poll numbers are heading up in advance of next week's caucuses.

Week remains before Blue Zone applications due

Newton Independent

Just a week remains for the Iowa communities hoping to be considered as one of the initial demonstration sites for the governor's healthiest state initiative to submit completed applications for consideration.

Late last month, 58 Iowa communities, including Newton, were selected to move forward through the full application process for the initial round to select Blue Zone demonstration communities. Demonstration sites are communities in Iowa where Blue Zone healthy living principles will be applied with the assistance of national experts and serve as models for other communities.

The 58 communities moving forward are required to submit their full applications by Jan. 4, 2012. Upon assessment of the applications, eight to 10 finalist communities will be selected to host site visits from Feb. 27 to March 16. The first round of demonstration sites will be announced in May.

In addition to the written application, citizen support is part of the selection process. That support is being measured by the percentage of residents that pledge to participate in the healthy living initiative if their town is chosen.

The current Blue Zone Community Scoreboard shows Oelwein with the largest percentage of resident participation pledges at 37.13 percent. Woodbine, Fairfield, Grundy Center and St. Ansgar round out the top five with participation percentage rates ranging from 35.1 to 28.5. Newton's current resident participation pledge level stands at 1.69 percent. The scoreboard is updated daily.

You can pledge your support by following this link.

TPI CEO pens op-ed piece on extension of tax credit

Newton Independent

Steve Lockard, the CEO of TPI Composites, the wind blade manufacturer in Newton, penned an opinion piece on FoxNews.com today calling on Congress to extend the federal Production Tax Credit for the wind energy industry.

Titled Will Congress Let Us Keep Creating American Jobs?, Lockard argues that the 700 jobs TPI has created in Newton, along with another 100 at Trinity Towers in the former Maytag production plant, can be duplicated in hard hit towns across the country, but only if Congress acts to extend the credit set to expire at the end of next year.

You can read the opinion piece here.

Iowa Workforce Development warns of fraudulent web sites

Newton Independent

Iowa Workforce Development officials today are warning that a number of fraudulent web sites have popped up since the department closed three dozen local offices across the state and moved to online access of its services.

Teresa Wahlert, director of Workforce Development, said Iowans can file unemployment claims at the department's web site 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but said fraudulent sites exist whose use may jeopardize a user's benefits and potentially exposes them to identify theft.

"These web sites prey on those most vulnerable who are simply looking for help," she said. "We want every Iowan to know that filing for unemployment is a free service provided by Iowa Workforce Development."

State officials said that though the fraudulent web sites look official, they are not authorized or endorsed by the state. While the sites may promise prompt response or guaranteed approval, in many cases they may jeopardize or delay weekly benefits and could expose Iowans to identity theft, state officials said.

"You will not be automatically approved for unemployment no matter how much you pay," Wahlert said. "Procedures are in place to ensure a fair and equal system for both employers and individuals. We try to process all claims in a timely manner, but there is no automatic way to be approved."

Newton student numbers continue to fall

By PETER HUSSMANN

Newton's student enrollment figures continued their downward slide falling another 66 students this year and down 291 over the course of the last five years, the fourth greatest number in the state.

Newton's certified enrollment figures were released on Tuesday by the Iowa Department of Education and showed the district with 3,036 students in the current school year, down from 3,327 in the 2007-2008 school year. Last year, Newton had an enrollment of 3,102 which was down 100 students from the year before.

Only Cedar Rapids (-968), Fort Dodge (-327) and Keokuk (-322) saw greater student enrollment declines over the course of the past five years, the report stated.

Statewide, the number of students enrolled in Iowa's public schools declined by 280 students (0.06 percent) to 473,213, the 14th consecutive year of enrollment declines. Of the 351 school districts in the state, 218 (62 percent) showed declines with 129 (37 percent) reporting an increase in the current school year. Four districts reported no change.

The other four school districts in Jasper County also reported enrollment declines in the current school year.

Baxter was down 19 students to 385, Colfax-Mingo was down 20 to 772, Lynnville-Sully dropped 9 to 446 and PCM fell 19 to 1,017.

The certified enrollment is used in the formula that determines state funding for public school districts. It currently stands at approximately $5,800 per student.

Newton man charged with involuntary manslaughter in death of Mingo teen; another cited for supplying alcohol

Newton Independent

A Newton was charged with involuntary manslaughter today for supplying a narcotic to a Mingo teenager while a Colfax man has been charged with supplying the teen with the alcohol she consumed together with the prescription drug that lead to her death.

Wyatt Andrew Franklin, 19, was charged today with involuntary manslaughter, a Class D felony; delivery of a controlled substance, a Class C felony, and probation violation in connection with the death of Shasta Sapp, 19, according to a press release issued this afternoon by the Jasper County Sheriff's Office.

On Nov. 12, the Jasper County Sheriff's Office, along with Colfax Fire and EMS, responded to a report of an unresponsive female at 886 W. 120th St. S. in rural Colfax. Sapp was transported to Skiff Medical Center in Newton where she was pronounced dead.

During the investigation by the Jasper County Sheriff's Office, the Jasper County Medical Examiner and Jasper County Attorney's Office, it was determined that Sapp had consumed both alcohol and oxymorphone, a schedule II controlled substance, prior to her death. An autopsy conducted on Sapp determined that the level of oxymorphone found in her system contributed to her death. There was no evidence of sexual or physical assault.

The investigation determined that Franklin allegedly supplied and prepared the oxymorphone that Sapp consumed.

Franklin is being held in the Jasper County Jail. A probation revocation hearing on the deferred judgment he received earlier this year on charges of possession of a controlled substance is set for Jan. 4, 2012 in Jasper County District Court.

Jasper County Sheriff's Office officials charged Jason Bissell, 21, of Colfax with supplying alcohol to a person under the age of 21, a serious misdemeanor. The investigation determined he was responsible for supplying alcohol to Sapp on Nov. 11 at the rural Colfax rental residence. He was cited and released to appear.

Newton firefighters called to Maid-Rite on Christmas Eve

Newton Independent

The Newton Fire Department was called to the Maid-Rite restaurant in downtown Newton on Christmas Eve on a report of smoke coming from the building.

Upon arrival, firefighters found that grease fryers in the restaurant had been accidently left on causing a buildup of smoke in the building. There was no fire, said Newton Fire Marshal Mike Knoll.

Firefighters ventilated the building to remove the smoke.

The only damage was caused when firefighters had to take out a metal panel on the rear door to gain entry to the building.

Retirement open house for Tom Wardlow set

Newton Independent

The City of Newton will host a retirement open house for City Administrator Tom Wardlow on his last day of work on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Wardlow has worked for the city since April 2001, first as its chief of police and then as full-time city administrator, after previously holding the position in an interim capacity.

The public is invited stop by city hall from noon to 2 p.m. Jan. 3 to thank Wardlow for his many years of service to the community.

Kennedy, Keenan retiring from Jasper County FSA

Steve Kennedy, executive director of the Jasper County Farm Services Agency, will retire early next year after more than 33 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as will Sue Keenan, who has nearly 28 years as a program technician with the FSA office. A joint open house honoring their service will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, at the Jasper County FSA office, 709 1st Ave. W., in Newton. Cards and well wishes may be sent to Kennedy at 922 E. 18th St. N. in Newton and Keenan at 11982 Hwy F27 E, Kellogg, 50135.

Paul to campaign in Newton

Newton Independent

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul will hold a town hall meeting at noon Wednesday at the Iowa Speedway media center at the track located just of south of Interstate 80 at the 168 mile-marker exit.